Confront one of history's darkest chapters on a walk through the Berlin of the Third Reich, tracing how Germany's first democracy was dismantled from within and where the Nazi regime pursued its crimes. With a licensed local guide, follow the story from the rise of the dictatorship to the murder of millions — and the memorials that ensure it is never forgotten.
Begin at the Brandenburg Gate, where your guide sets the scene of a nation in crisis after the First World War, and how Hitler and the Nazi Party exploited fear to seize power through propaganda, intimidation and the law itself. At the Reichstag, learn how the regime consolidated absolute control — Goebbels' grip on the media, the book burnings of 1933, and the terror of the SS and Gestapo that turned Germany into a one-party state.
At the Soviet Memorial in the Tiergarten, hear of the Battle of Berlin and the violent collapse of the regime in 1945. Then turn to remembrance: the reflective pool honouring the 500,000 Sinti and Roma murdered under Nazi rule, and Peter Eisenman's vast field of concrete stelae, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, where your guide traces the path from the Nuremberg Laws to the Holocaust. Along Wilhelmstraße, once the nerve centre of the state, understand how genocide was administered from ordinary government desks.
The walk ends in Berlin's historic Jewish quarter, at the New Synagogue and the old cemetery on Große Hamburger Straße, where thousands were gathered for deportation and where brass "stumbling stones" now name the individuals lost. Here your guide draws the threads together: how a vibrant community was nearly destroyed and has slowly returned, and why this history — a warning of how a democracy can collapse — is preserved so it is never forgotten. Led by an expert local, it is a moving and unflinching journey through the century's gravest lessons.
With a max of 20 guests, it is a more personal experience than most tours in the city. This tour includes a short journey by public transport. If you don't hold a valid day pass (AB-zone), we'll cover the cost of your ticket.
